There's much too much bemoaning about Democrats winning the presidency, but failing to sweep the down-ballot table.  Therefore I want to discuss the difference between battles and wars.  Conservatives frequently win battles, but it is an axiomatic rule that liberals win the longtime war.  That's just the nature of history and of the two philosophies:  liberals propose seemingly impossible goals, while conservatives try to plug the dyke against inevitable change. Read More 

I want to congratulate and thank my colleague Joe O'Neill, who like Joe Biden, has Irish roots in Pennsylvania.  I'm also going to emulate Joe's short-sentence style today.  So:

To all those right-wingers complaining about "socialism," please return your Social Security checks.

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I really don't want to write this week.  Not just because I write on Mondays and this one is angst-producing Election Eve, but also and especially because I recently lost both my older brother and sister.  I'm hanging on to my sanity by a thread, but I try to keep my commitments – and this will be an easy, almost thoughtless, column.  It will be based on an early portion of my last book, Victory for the Vote:  The Fight for Women's Suffrage and the Century that Followed.  I intended to write about this October event all last month, but other issues seemed more relevant.  Read More 

I was in car and listening to WUSF Radio when I heard the startling news that, without consulting faculty or area school systems, USF intended to abolish its College of Education.  My first thought was that Jack Gordon would be thrilled; my second thought was that Betty Castor would be distressed.  Both liberal Democrats, they served together in the Florida Senate in the 1970s when Democrats controlled the legislature -- but not necessarily liberal Democrats.  Anti-intellectual Senate President Dempsey Barron of Lower Alabama ran everything, along with his Panhandle pork-guzzlers.  Read More 

PART I

Both Hubby and I quite possibly could have died in our twenties were it not for the Army's Walter Reed Hospital.  Hubby's tuberculosis was diagnosed there, and I suffered a late-term miscarriage and subsequent infection that kept me there for ten days.  On the other hand, it may well have been the hospital's fault that I got the infection – and even that I had the miscarriage.  This was during the Vietnam War and young male physicians were being drafted, and I'm sure that some who were assigned to OB/GYN resented that.  I know my doctor was a complete and total jerk, without empathy and very antagonistic.  Read More 

I owe an apology to my friends who long have subscribed to the New York Times:  I considered that to be rather elitist and argued for our hometown papers.  But because of the demise of Mother Trib and especially because of the recent cast of characters at the Tampa Bay Times, I've signed up with the Yankee newspaper.  It promises to deliver a print version every day, something that seems not to matter anymore to the folks at TBT.  Read More 

It's hard to know how to begin.  In addition to the insane outside world, my family is falling apart.  Regular readers know that I lost my beloved husband earlier this year, and last week, I lost my oldest brother.  Adding to that, an older sister and brother are in bad shape.  But I used the axiom of "the personal is political" because I want to talk about the end of life and how cruel current conditions can be. Read More 

You probably join me in being so, so tired of 2020 turmoil.  If we had 20-20 foresight, we never would have allowed ourselves to get into this mess.  Today I decided to give it a rest and go back to the past.  Maybe not eternal verities, as in William Faulkner's work, but as close as I can get.  So if you want more about news and faux news, just stop reading here and skip over to Joe's column.  He'll have the latest and greatest. Read More 

Back in April, when the legislative session was about to end and thoughtless Republican legislators – most of that young frat boys – were patting themselves on the back about their budget?  A reporter who was paying attention to the world outside of Tally asked one about the budgetary effect of the new virus.  "I hadn't thought about that," he replied.  I wrote about it at the time, but it's time to review from another angle. Read More 

I'm not going to belabor what so many others have said so well about the president's appalling – and repeated -- descriptions of soldiers who sacrificed for our nation.  It was good to see the Times bring back their Pulitzer-winning Dan Ruth to write about his father, a "sucker" who volunteered for additional dangerous flights during World War II.  And I can't imagine any sane person standing next to a bereaved family and wondering aloud "what was in it for him."  The Current Occupant truly meets the definition of a psychopath, incapable of empathy. Read More